LTI Mindtree will stop applying for new H-1B visas in the upcoming U.S. filing cycle and instead strengthen its on-ground workforce in America, CEO Venu Lambu told Moneycontrol.
The move comes amid a sharp rise in H-1B petition fees for major employers, a cost increase introduced in recent months under the Trump administration.
According to Lambu, the company believes that accelerating local hiring will be a more sustainable path forward as U.S. immigration policies become increasingly expensive and complex for large tech firms.
“We are hiring, we are hiring locally, and one of the things that I have made clear is that we are not going to make any new applications on H-1B,” Lambu said in an interview last week. “Unless (we) have a strong business case to spend $100,000, we are not going to do that.”
Lambu noted that the decision affects only new applications in the next H-1B lottery window, typically held between March and April, and does not impact extensions for employees already on the visa. He also pointed out that the recent fee increases apply solely to fresh filings, meaning renewals remain unaffected under the revised rules.
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“If there is a change in rules, we will reconsider,” Lambu added. He added that LTIMindtree generally submits only a limited number of new H-1B applications each year, so the shift in strategy will have a relatively modest immediate impact.
USCIS data shows that as of June 30, 2025, the company secured 1,807 H-1B approvals for the fiscal year, placing it among the country’s most active visa sponsors. Lambu said roughly 4,000 of LTIMindtree’s more than 86,000 employees currently work in the U.S. on H-1B visas.
Lambu said the shift would have minimal effect on LTIMindtree’s onsite operations, noting that the company has steadily reduced its reliance on H-1B talent in recent years. He added that a robust U.S. hiring pipeline is already in place, allowing the firm to meet demand without significantly depending on new visa holders.
“In the short term, since we already reduced the dependence on H-1B and we had machinery in place to do the onsite hiring,” he said, adding that not all onsite positions are filled through subcontractors. “We have them as our employees, as full-time employees.”
When asked how the company would handle situations where clients request additional on-site staff in the U.S., Lambu said LTIMindtree would draw from its current workforce in the country and expand local recruitment to meet those needs. “We will figure out other ways; otherwise, we have a lot of good population already in the US, and we will have them in the US,” he said.
Lambu noted that the broader Indian IT industry has already eased its reliance on H-1B talent over the past five years, as firms expanded local teams in key markets and strengthened offshore delivery and GCC models.
He said LTIMindtree’s decision to pause new H-1B filings aligns with the company’s longer-term shift toward nonlinear growth, a strategy aimed at increasing revenue without a corresponding rise in headcount. “If you look at our first half (H1FY26), we added $64 million of incremental revenue,” he said.
Looking ahead, Lambu said the company’s five-year roadmap envisions nearly doubling revenue while avoiding a matching expansion in its employee base, a goal that underscores its focus on productivity-led growth. “If we are growing 2X over the next five years or so, you should grow probably at 1.2X or 1.3X of your headcount,” he said.